AOL search data release a "screw up"

Posted Aug 7th 2006 3:23PM by Michael Canfield
Filed under: Bad News, Consumer Experience, Time Warner (TWX)

"This was a screw up, and we're angry and upset about it," Andrew Weinstein, an AOL spokesman said.

AOL released search information on about 20 million searches done from software over a three-month period. They characterized the leak as a small portion of keyword search info for about 658,000 anonymous users with the intent of reaching out to academia with new research tools. The info was released more than ten days ago, but not noticed till this weekend.

Searchers personal IDs were replaced with random numbers, so I'll admit my ignorance: I fail to see what the fuss is about. With luck, some commentators will weigh in here with their opinions, and set me straight on that. Is it the principle, or is there a real violation of privacy here? Are you unnerved about what companies might do with your search data?

Michael Canfield is a private investor and writer, in Seattle. He doesn't own stock in Time Warner, and is a freelancer, not an employee of AOL or Time Warner.

Tags: aol, aol screw up, AolScrewUp, net privacy, NetPrivacy, Time Warner, TimeWarner